Knuckle joint means



Sept. 22, 1931. Q R w M|LLER 1,824,028

KNUCKLE JOINT MEANS Filed June 11, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Bbe r w. m".

Hl ATTORNEY Sept. 22, 1931. R. w. MILLER 1,824,028

KNUCKLE JOINT MEANS Filed June 11. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 jgyjz,

INVENTOR BlY ob rib i116):

HIS ATTORNEY UNITEDFS STAZ T ES PATENT o -Pica ROBERT w. MILLER, or coiirmiivnl new Your, ns'srenon TO THE REWE -mummies, V coaromrrron, or oonrrnnn, Yonma' conronarron on NEW YORK :KNUCKLE Jam 1mins Application med June 11, 1929. "Serial NoJI fl This invention relates-to the art of'making all-metal knuckle. joints andmore particularly to smooth-{working linked -stop-joints such as areadapted for'use uponi collapsible automobile tOPSDfrthI-B closed bodytype or the like. As appliedexteriorly to opposite sides of motor cars, my improved hinged prop or top brace each comprises a pair of highly finished links that maybe .rpivotally interconnected through my stopjoint means. The free "ends of said adjoinedlinks may be respectively attached tothe rear side portions of'the car body and to the corresponding hood portions; suchbrace links normal-j ly serve to rigidly support'the hood in erected position but still allow of its being; collapsed rearwardly upon breaking of :the complementary stopjoints, I i

" o The primary object of-myimprovenientsis to provide for a durable, rattle-proof and highly finished joint of the character indicated, that can readily andeconomicallybe fabricated'on a productive scale',' also one in which its trunnion ends are ne'atly'andwholly concealed between suitable cover' or trim plates without requiring the trunnion ends to extend therethrough or to bef 'oth'erwise exposedto view. The present' invention fur ther aims to devisearelevantmethod or making and assemblingmyYparts such that the complementary links together with all necessary joint members, ma bejindilvidual ly nickel and chrome'plate d prior to the as i sembly. thereof andfobviate' the mater grinding or refinishing the fulcrum pin ends after the joint is assembled.

To this end and j the accomplishmentfof other new and useful results, said invention further consists. in novel. features of J struc ture and mode of manipulatiom all of which will herelnafter be. more fully setforth. I 7 Reference is had tothe accompanying two sheets of drawings whichare illustrative of a specific embodiment of my invention particularly as applied to automotiveypurposes, in which like characters of reference indicate like parts, and in which'pf' i Fig. 1 is a fragmentary v view of an automobile body "showing the elevational' "side rear top portion thereof equipt with my improvedknuckle joint mechanism. r ig; 2 represents an enlarged plan vlew of the joint assembly shown in Fig. 1, while Fig. 3 is a topview thereof.

-Fig. 4 showsthe-hinge-like formation of anadjoined end' portion of one of my link members. -Fig. 5indi'cates', a' transverse viewjas taken along line 55.of Fig. 4, while Fig. 6 shows anend view. as taken along-line 6-6 of Fig. 7= is a transverse sectional view of one of my trim plates and Figs. 8 and 9 respectivelyrepresent a special style of bushing andtapered pin that are adapted to cooperate with said plates. l Figs. 10, 11 and ,12 show successive stages in the assemblyof my stop joint and the manner in which complementary trim lates are made to-interlock aboutthe assem led links to-constitutei'a finished pivot joint.

Referring first to Fig. 1, this isintended'to schematically indicate certain conventional motor car elements that 7. may be indirectly associated with my; device, such as a body 1, a 'rearwardly collapsible top portion 2 and a body side'prop 3, and the like. A brace meansqof the kind in question, generally comprises-two or more link members designated as4 and 5, that are interconnected by a breakable knuckle joint of the stop type indicated in its entirety by 6 a In Fig.1v said brace means is [for-ornamental, reasons given a double curved or S shaped form of which the outermost-freefends may be equipt with eye-like bosses; one 'suchendpivotally engages the body prop 3 while the other may be similarly attached to an upper side portion of thebody top at 7. As will be understood, this particular style of stop linkage is intended to be broken when the top is collapsed rearwardly-in the conventional fashiona Instead of the described single ointed link, a double; jointed link may likewise be resorted to. V a

In Fig. 2, the fulllined position represents the brace linksplaced in their normal or operative thrust relation. while the dotted line position,-indicates the joint as broken; said joint is here shown as fashioned from substantially straight links but this is an immaterial detail since the present invention is more largely concerned with improving the pivotal joint therebetween. The adjoined end portion of each such link may be drop forgedor otherwise tormedupiifitligi'f fiion detailed in Figs-:4 to-6 inclusive? Said links may be fabricated fromsolid-ov-al-bau- -A.s..a... first.step,.two. of. said. hinge-like bosses sectionally represented" in Fig, The;

stock preferably of steel lsuch as. cross? knuckle joint or socket end'portioirof each link may first be upset into an enlargemenh adapted to form the substantially rectangular shank head 8 having itsextremity simultaaet-r ously struck up by die means into the laterally o'fi set disc-likepi'vot bossiorliinge-lea-f'fig It will-be observed that 'thec'irc ular or=d1ise like] out'eiimost ffl'a t" face of said boss is preferably-kept alignedwitli-or'ie esteemed 7 sides while the innerorrubbing} Boss jade 9B is shown as=medially depressed witlirespect to the head "fa'cewi'dth While striking up said boss 9, there may at the same time be indented, a' relatiye'ly 'shallow cylindrica-l countersink 10 and also a' centei in g tit 11'. The latter serves for center purposeswhen drilling through the originally-"solid boss '9: The shank end may thereu be turned over to spot the face'9 and said drilledboss' hole maynow 'be jerilargd and reamed to I form the "tapered or "cone shaped socket 12 inthe-mann'e'r indicatedhy dotted outline in Fig.6. For; reasons that will appear presently; the larger diameterof said cone is made-toli'e contiguoils to the inner boss face 9B wliile the" contracted neck thereof may be given a'small er boresize Attention will now 7 be directed to'tlie 1 trinr plate 13'which'may be turnediup from suit able metal stock asa screw. machine product.

As cross-sectionally in'dicatediniFig;'fisaid plate preferably comprises j a b tton-like cover portion 13A of which one;'-naine-l-y*-the inner face is kept substantially fiatifto 'pro vide for" a stop shoultd er 13B 'fron which the-re" projects an expansibl'etubuliiu rivet; member" 136, 'as' shown." It, is fp'ointed' Out that the domed exterior surfa e of said butf ton is preferablykept 'perfectly smoothand'free from any aperture or otlierirregti present purposes.

larities such would be likely to marthe? finished appearance thereof -Fig. 8; shows an interlocking'bushi'ng 14 preferably made from 's'oft jbrass' or other; relatively ductile metal, and thi s is givenan internal diameter adapt'edto" siiugl'yf receive said 'outwa'rdly projecting plate rivet 1363 1 The outside tube diameter Dis app'roximate ly kept to the contracted neck size-'Dltiftlie tap'ered'socket'12while th ebusli length is preferably made jslightly longer area; the head fac'e width W1 'The describedfjoiiit Telean diagainst separation.

ments may be expanded into place in a novel manner by the use of a doubly tapered wedge pin 15 such as is shown in Fig. 9, or by other suitable means.

are 'assembledi with their. rubbing faces 9B 'placedin abutting relation. Thecorresponding-j larger: diameter of their respective tapered sockets are thereby brought into regto constitutetannndercut cavity between thecontracted ends thereof. The bushing 14 is nexfiiiise-rted' therethrou'gh andthe overhanging ends: crimp'ed over into the respec- Headcountersink? as shown in Fig. 10 thekbushing is made to serve as a tie piece-2 holding said? bosses; in alignment Asia next-step; the wedge pin 15 may be placediintmthebush interior and the exp ansibleflplater'rivet;13C3initially1assembled in the manner indicated bys'Eig-glh r. If there-upon, presslmeibe appfiekito the'oppositely disposed trim platesathisrwill forcibly spread-out the respectivearivets 13l and in turn radiallyexpanmhnshing-14dnto the? enlarged complementary sockets 13', thus? pi'votally'inter- Iocking the :linlis. 4t. andrfi; and s'erv-'ing:to' hold' scnibed-icaivity disposed said tube atiordszaclearanee space-into which: the center ne'gieneof the tube may, beenlarged. The re-- S111t-iIig;'iDteri0rlyiund:fCi1t walls of the tube in? turn; provide. for grip,- means: adapted to interlockingly; receive the:- e xpanded tubular plate rivets-,=, thus; constituting; a simple-and neatly;- finished means; for; holding the:- trim plate;ing;place..; In practice,. the outermost diameten otthe complementary trim: plates isv generally. made. suificientlyf large tofully cover the interpgosed bosses 9.. I

then preferredeto have the stop shoulfdlerslfiB come into abutment with the respectiyeoutermostiboss.faces QAandto this end, tliaadj'acentlinnermost ends. of the expandedituhulaizp late.rivetsl3G may be'kept slightlyspacedl will. be understood, the interlocking hinge elements. ofmy device are to be s'of -pr(iportioned and installed as to. permit ofa relatively, free movement between the adjoined 'linksAl and v5 ';.this. is preferably attainedby havinggthe hushrgrip the tapered borejot one linliboss while. leaving the adj'a'eentlioss reasonably, free. to fulcrum. therearoun d i As used. for automobiletops,v itis customary to provide for astop me or abutmentifac'e SA di'sposed in an" ofiset relation.

joint may readily be applied to jointed links that are not so provided. While it is preferred to simultaneously crimp the pintle 14 into its surrounding cavity by forciblyex panding the plate rivet 130 into place as described, the same result may also be attainedby first interiorly crimping said chamber and thereupon expanding one or both trim plates therein by suitable means. The following points emphasize the ad vantages that are inherent to my improved mode of fabricating such joints particularly as applied to automotive purposes, where the described type of hood brace is furnished and sold as a highly finished product. .In the conventional style of linked joints of this kind, the washer member corresponding to my trim plate 13 is ordinarily drilled through its center region and a rivet is inserted therein; the respective ends of said through rivet are thereupon upset to hold said .washer plates in place. The usual procedure is to first separately grind, finish and copper plate each of the steel links and to similarly-treat the washer plates, whereupon these semifinished parts are assembled and riveted together. As will be apparent, the upset rivet ends that project through the plated washer surface, must however still be independently ground and polished to properly trim the joint; the exposed rivet ends together with the joint assembly as a whole are finally recoppered and made ready for taking their finishing coating of nickel and chrome plate. After extended use with the cited conventional washer plate, the riveted pin end tends to work loose and thus cause a ring-like defeet that mars the highly finished outer plate surface.

On the other hand, this need for supplemental plating is entirely eliminated by the use of my devices, since no portion ofthe rivet pin is allowed to project through the trim plate to disfigure the exterior. surface thereof. In addition, the adjoined links 4 and 5 and likewise my trim plate may be completely plated in one and the same operation, and the individual parts made ready for final assembly in the manner described in connection with Figs. 10 to 12. The nickel and chrome plating is thereby uniformly distributed throughout, including all crevices between the joint rubbing surface and there is far less likelihood of the finished cover plate faces becoming rusted in spots owing to imperfect continuity on part of the plating coat.

It is understood that the described joint devices also find application to purposes other 1 than automotive brace links of the hinged.

type, it being emphasized that my described trim plate devices may in similar manner be applied to so-called dummy joints which do not actually provide for a pintle knuckle joint but merely simulate such, and that various ch'anges in the details and mode o'fmanipulation thereof may be resorted to in likewise carrying outmyillustra-tive structural embodiment, all without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, heretofore describedand more particularly pointed out inthexappended claims. Claims: i p

-1 Jointed brace means comprising a pair of relatively movable shank-likemembers respectively equipt with apertured bosses,

internally chambered'pintle'means serving to pivotally interconnect said bosses, and a trimplate telescopically associated with one end region of said pintle and-which associated parts are interlockingly expanded into each other without unduly restrainingthe relatively movable members. 1 i

2. Inga-knuckle joint means adapted to pivotallyfconne'ct two members comprising in combination, a relatively fiat pivot boss for each such member, each such boss having an otally connect two members comprising in combination, a relatively flat pivot boss for each such member, each such boss having a contracted hole therethrough and which complementary bosses are adapted to lie face to face with the respective enlarged hole portions placed in abutting registry, tie means of the hollowed pintle type mounted through said holes, wedge means disposed interiorly of said tie means, and a trim plate provided with an expansible means adapted to be interposed between said wedge and the interior of the aforesaid tie means, said wedge means serving to forcibly open said expansible means into interlocked relation with the tie means.

4. In a knuckle'means of the stop joint type adapted to ivotally connect complementary brace lin s of which each such link comprises a head portion terminating in a transversely disposed abutment, the combination of a disc-like pivot boss associated with each such head in a laterally offset relation to a marginal portion of its abutment, said disc-like bosses each being provided with an axially contracted hole and which complementary bosses are adapted to lie face to face with the respective enlarged hole ends placed in abutting registry, tubular means extending through said holes with the respective ends thereofcrimped over the opposite free ends of said holesyand plate means provided With an expansible meansndapteditoaenter said tubular means and interlock therewith. 5..Jointed brace'means comprising'apair of relatively movable x'shanks' respectively equipt with apertured bosses, tubularipintle means interconneetingsaid bosses, said pintle having an interior 'cavity that is radially lindercut with respect. t0 the end. openings therer :of, aiseparate trimi-plate for each pintle end,

each such platebeing provided with expansi- 'b1e plug Ineansadapted to enter the respective I end openings; and a "common wedge means interposed betvveen and serving to expand both of said .plugs'into the pintle cavity.

In testimony whereof, I have herewithset my hand this 10th dayof June, 1929; t d ROBERT MILLER. 

